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Goodbye, low rent, water views

A condo conversion will oust 1,000-plus people from Coquina Key Arms. They face waiting lists or less bang for their buck.

By SHARON L. BOND
Published July 10, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Renee Kinney, Coquina Key Arms resident for the past five years, has found a new place to live. It costs $362 a month more, and she had to put down a $500 deposit for her dog.

The apartment at Echelon at Bay Isle Key is newer and bigger, but Kinney was not in the market for a new place to live. Given a choice, she said, she would not be moving.

"I'm moving to a place I'm comfortable with. It's not too far out of my budget. If I had a choice, I would rather stay with $808," her Coquina Key rent.

Kinney is one of 1,000-plus residents who are or will be leaving Coquina Key Arms at 5000 Coquina Key Drive SE. The apartment complex, which is mostly two-bedroom units with an average rent of $650, will be converted to condominiums, its new owners said. Residents' leases are not being renewed. Those whose leases end in the next few months are out shopping for new homes.

Theirs is not an unusual situation. St. Petersburg alone has lost 2,000 to 3,000 apartment units in the past two years, said Thomas K. deYampert, manager of the city's Housing and Community Development Department. Most larger complexes were converted to condominiums. A number of smaller complexes with 20 to 60 units also have been converted, closed or torn down, deYampert said.

Apartment complexes that have been converted to condos include Carlton Towers, with 183 units; the Madison, with 277; and Skyview Point Apartments, now called the Wave, 128 condos.

In nearby South Pasadena, residents at Pasadena Apartments are in the midst of a conversion of 198 units.

Many residents leaving Coquina Key did not expect to find waterfront apartments, or even those without views, with rents as low as theirs have been. But some were surprised that many complexes were full. DeYampert said availability already was lacking before the latest string of apartment complexes was converted.

John Stone, director of multifamily housing for Colliers Arnold in Clearwater, sees the opposite when he looks over Tampa Bay's rental situation. He said the area had a glut of apartments before conversions began.

A recent survey showed that 96.5 percent of rental units in the Tampa Bay area are occupied. That still leaves more than 5,000 units vacant, Stone said.

"There is more than an ample supply of vacancies to absorb five Coquina Keys," Stone said.

Coquina Key was built and owned by the Mahaffey family and offered water views. Its rents probably were kept lower because of the family ownership, said Anthony Jones, assistant director for Pinellas County Community Development.

"Coquina Key was a special case," Jones said. "What people paid for what they got there, it will be difficult to find something comparable."

Jones said that although condo conversions displace renters, they sometimes offer lower-priced condos for those on the lower end of the income scale - people who otherwise might not have a way to enter the housing market.

Carlton Towers was an example of that. More than two years ago when its conversion began, condos were priced from $69,000 to $200,000, on the low end for St. Petersburg.

A number of Coquina Key residents are on the 200-person-long waiting list to get into Carlton Arms (different from Carlton Towers) at 6699 31st Way S. That complex, built in 1969, is also owned by the Mahaffey Co.

"All the Coquina people want to come here," said Linda Chichester, executive director of Carlton Arms. But the complex, with 259 units, is full. Rents range from $472 to $900 per month.

"Ours is very comparable with Coquina Key. It's probably a little lower than the average apartment rent," Chichester said.

Other complexes mentioned by Coquina Key searchers include Hudson Point Apartments at 11901 Fourth St. N. It has 350 units, and two-bedroom apartments start at $940 per month, according to Georgina Callier, a temporary worker.

Callier also happens to be a Coquina Key resident who pays $645 for a two-bedroom unit. She worries about finding something she can afford when her lease is up in March.

Kinney's two-bedroom, two-bath unit at Echelon at Bay Isle Key, 11850 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, will cost $1,170 per month. It is bigger than her Coquina Key townhome, which has two bedrooms and a bath and a half. Her rent at Coquina Key, $808, includes $12 a month for the dog.

Her teenage sons are not happy about leaving Coquina Key, and she worries about school choice for the one still in middle school.

Kinney, a nurse and medical administrator, can't get into her apartment until the end of August. Her lease at Coquina Key is up at the end of July. She is negotiating to stay another month.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:34:17]